" recently met a good friend of mine, mileage on the existing Speedo (providing Wallingford, which has lots

which has lots of character and

I Chris, at his local for a drink. He lives it was still original, which it was) then that
in a picturesque village in Oxfordshire would give the total mileage of the car. The
where the pub still retains a lot of that original owner was a Mr William Pugsley of
country character. After purchasing two Lynmouth in Devon; he sold the car in early
pints of their best bitter, the t&lk soon got 1976 to a gentleman who only owned the
many period cottages. The car pulled
effortlessly, although I did find that first was
fairly low geared, and that you could start
off in second if you wished. The engine is
the well-known B-series unit of I489cc. It
round to MGs and, in particular, his 1957 car for a few months, selling it to a dealer in produces 69bhp at 5,400rpm and has a
MG Magnette ZB. His father had purchased Banbury from where Chris's father higher rear axle ratio employed over the
his car, his third Magnette, in 1976, when purchased it. older ZA model. The driving position is very
re became only the third owner, and the I mentioned that we were looking for a good, with a large 17-inch plastic-rimmed
mar has been in the family ever since. The Magnette to be featured in the April edition wire-sprung steering wheel, centre
only bodywork repairs to be earned out of Safety Fast!, which would be celebrating embossed with the MG logo. In front of
during the car's lifetime so far, were having 50 years of publication. He readily agreed you is a well laid out dash consisting of
me sills replaced in the 1980s and a respray to loan us the Magnette and arrangements speedo, fuel, ammeter, oil, and
r its original colour of black. Amazingly the were made to meet up the following week. temperature gauges, all mounted in a
nr has only covered a little over 50,000 On arrival, Chris took me to his wooden surround. Look upwards above
pies on its original engine. This being workshop and opened up the doors to the rear view mirror and you have a lovely
connfirmed when contact was made with the show me the gleaming ZB Magnette. The sculptured clock, with black face and
original owner's daughter. She mentioned chrome work looked excellent and is all luminous hands. The dash is all sculpted
l e t the Speedo had been replaced a few original, as are the maroon leather seats and from wood, including the top panel which
years after her father had purchased the car, red carpet, which shows only slight signs of on the very early ZAs was of a metal
per father had written the mileage of the wear for its age. The car started on the pressing. The gear lever falls easily to hand
original Speedo in yellow crayon on on the button, and as it was reversed out of the as does the handbrake, which is situated
underside of the bonnet, something that garage I noted how nice the engine between the luxurious seats. On moving
had always been a mystery up to then. She sounded. We headed out to Brightwel- off, the clutch is smooth and grips well after
explained that if he added this to the cum-Sotwell, a small village situated near each pleasurable gear change.
 Once on the move, progress is swift
with 23mph available in first, 40 in second,
70 in third and a top speed of around
87mph. A 0-60mph time of 18 seconds
has been quoted in a 1957 road test
although our progress was more sedate.
My everyday car is an MGF; which has an
excellent brake set up, so I did find the
braking on the ZB to be, well, interesting.
With no servo and drum brakes all round, a
fair amount of pressure is required on the
brake pedal to bring the car to a halt,
but it did pull up squarely with no pulling to
one side.
The route consisted of quite a few
bends, which gave me the chance to find
out the handling characteristics of the car.
To my surprise I found the car had very little
roll unless pushed hard into a bend, with
the steering being very precise, as you
would expect from its rack and pinion set
up. One concession to the modern age on
this car is the use of radial ply tyres over
the cross plys originally fitted, which
enhances the road holding immensely.
The Magnette is a heavy car, weighing in at
22cwt, although it does not give the
impression of this whilst on the move.
The four-door saloon body is easy to
enter and carriers four people with ease.
In the back, I found I had more than ample
head room and leg room, even with the
driver's seat pushed well back. Storage is
excellent with a large compartment built
into the dash that is accessed by opening a
wooden door. A shelf runs the width of the
car under the dash area, and another shelf
sits below the rear window. The boot has
an impressive amount of space in which you
could easily load several suitcases
and accessories for a family holiday.
The ambiance inside the car is what you
would expect from a car of this era and
oozes quality, with wood, leather, and that
smell which you only get in old cars. If only
we could bottle this!
 Our journey took us to the village of
Clifton Hampden where so many of the
early MG publicity photos were taken. The
first thing I noticed when we came to a T
junction, and I indicated right, was the lack
of the ticking noise we get on cars with
flashing indicators. This was because this car
still has its original semaphore direction
indicators, something that was a little dated
even in 1957.
On entering Clifton Hampden, we
passed the Barley Mow public house made
famous by the Jerome K. Jerome's book
Three men in a boat and took a left turn
where we came upon those lovely cottages
that featured so often in the early marketing
brochures. After a couple of photos we
made our way towards the village
of Goring on Thames using
the Ipsden road from Crowmarsh. This is a
lovely road to try out a car with long
sweeping bends and very little traffic. We
did top 60 along this road with ease with
the car feeling remarkably stable.
All too quickly the test came to an
end and we wound our way back to
Chris's workshop.
My opinion of the MG Magnette is one
of a well-made luxury car with lovely
sweeping lines that are just as attractive today
as they were in the fifties.
The handling, braking and performance
do not make it difficult to drive in modern
traffic, in fact just the opposite.
Would I like to own one, you bet!
Our thanks to Chris Lewis for
allowing us to drive and photograph
his beautiful ZB Magnette for this
article.
Specification and Performance data
The Gerald Palmer-designed Magnette was produced between 1953 and 1959, in ZA,
ZB, and Varitone versions. Over 36,000 were produced.

Car Tested: 1957 MG Magnette four door saloon. Price new £ 1,072.

Engine: Four cylinder pushrod B Series engine of 1,489cc capacity. customer base in servicing and repair
Compression ration 8.3-1, 69bhp at 5,400rpm. Twin SU I 1/2 carburettors. work on most types of cars. Chris has
restored several MGs for customers
Transmission: Single dry plate clutch with four speed gearbox driving an open prop over the years including a rubber
shaft and hypoid rear axle. bumper MGB GT that we purchased|
together and restored in the late
Chassis: Combined pressed steel body and chassis. Independent front suspension,
1980s. Chris actually learnt to drive in
rack and pinion steering rigid rear axle on semi elliptic springs. Piston type dampers all
his father's Magnette ZB Varitone in
round. Lockheed hydraulic drum brakes with bolt on disc wheels.
1965. A point of interest is that Chris
Equipment: 12-volt lighting and starting. Clock, speedometer, oil pressure, fuel, runs his business from a converted
ammeter and temperature gauges. Wipers and washers, heating and demisting.
Methodist Chapel, which was built in
Dimensions: Wheelbase 8ft 6ins. Track 4ft 3ins, Overall length 14ft I in, width 5ft 3m, 1839 and used up to 1966. Chris's
turning circle 37.5ft. father purchased the Chapel in 1968
and Chris set up his business there in
Performance: Maximum speed 87mph. 0-60mph in 18 seconds. 1982. The Chapel is situated at the
bottom of his garden.
Fuel consumption: Approx. 26mpg.